A male Canadian powerlifting coach broke the Alberta women’s bench-press record over the weekend in an act of protest against the presiding organization’s extremely lenient trans-inclusion policy.
Ari Silverberg, who does not identify as transgender, participated in the 84+ kg category at the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s (CPU) “Heroes Classic.”
Silverberg bested transgender-identifying male competitor Anne Andres, who watched him from the audience.
The CPU hasn’t updated its gender-eligibility rules in about five years, Ontario-based female powerlifter April Hutchinson told National Review. Men need only to declare themselves women in order to join the women’s division and are not required to suppress their testosterone levels as a prerequisite for participation.
Many national and international governing bodies for other high-performance and niche sports require male participants to maintain testosterone levels within a specified limit and to have identified as trans for multiple years in order to compete against women. However, the CPU only requires that lifters present a passport listing the sex they’re seeking to compete against.
Hutchinson was supposed to face Andres — the same transgender-identifying man who Silverberg just defeated — in her weight class at the Vancouver national tournament in February, but refused to compete in an act of protest after watching Andres’s behavior on the circuit.
Since taking up women’s powerlifting in 2019, Andres has quickly risen through the ranks, securing a bronze medal at nationals and the Alberta 84+ kg bench press record, before Silverberg snatched it from him.
At the Western Canadian Powerlifting and Bench Press Championships last September, Andres bench pressed 270 lbs., defeating multiple women in the Women’s Raw 185+ Open.
Hutchinson and fellow female Canadian powerlifter Kristine Bayntun, who lost a first-place trophy to Andres years ago at her first-ever meet, are outraged by the arrogance Andres has displayed while enjoying a clear physical advantage over the field.
“Why is women’s bench so bad? I mean, not compared to me, we all know that I’m a tranny freak so that doesn’t count. And no, we’re not talking about Mackenzie Lee, she’s got little T-Rex arms and she’s like 400 pounds of chest muscle apparently,” Andres said in a November Instagram video.